"Japan is still the biggest foreign holder of U.S. Treasury debt ($587 billion as of January, 2008 ). China ($492 billion) comes in second, but is rapidly moving into first place: something like $90 billion of U.S. Treasury debt was sold to China in just the past 12 months. Other big holders include the U.K. ($160 billion), Brazil ($141.7 billion), and two categories the Treasury lists simply as “oil exporters” ($141 billion) and “Caribbean banking centers” ($108 billion). The list includes 22 other countries that are holding $10 billion or more."